David Pogue: New iMacs and Mac Pros Coming 'Probably in 2013' [Update]

[Liquidstate]

More advance notice than Steve gave us...

I still remember the day "when hell freezes over," (Job's famous statement that he'd never use Intel chips). No warning. Suddenly every Mac made before that day was a dead end machine.

I think the mild MP upgrade and the obvious NYTimes leak was Tim Cook's way of assuring pro users that a new high end machine is in the works.

It can't get much clearer than that. And it shows us Tim Cook has a bit more heart. He can't say anything officially. But he essentially "told" us, here's as much of an upgrade as we can make without a big investment in a hardware design that's soon going to be replaced by a new design. I was amazed they told us that much.

Apple generally doesn't do constant piecemeal upgrades, and for a good reason. In the audio world, the pro gear people rarely use Windows machines because of the stability and support issues with component compatibility and drivers. Who cares if a machine is a bit faster if it just crashed during a perfect take?

We take Mac stability for granted, but part of that is refraining from constant component changes.

Regarding the iMac, Apple tends to do product releases in family groups. In other words, at this WWWDC they did a lot of portable computing releases. The Mac Pro update was a quiet update, not part of the show. They didn't do desktops at WWWDC.

That would suggest that the next Mac Desktops (iMac, Mini and the next Mac Pro or whatever they might call it) will probably be launched at the same time.

I think whatever is coming, it will be more than a bland makeover. Tim Cook's leadership of the company is now at stake. The new desktops will be his first new product launches. He's got to innovate to uphold the brand.
And maybe that's part of the reason for these delays.

 

[MNT]

Some of you guys have managed to turn being uninformed into performance art. The decline in desktop sales started years ago, before Apple started focusing so strongly on notebooks and iOS devices. It's cool that they're not abandoning the line altogether and have made some options cheaper, but my guess would be that Apple just doesn't see that much opportunity for innovation there, at least not the way they can with portable devices. New GPUs and CPUs may excite the people who claim to be in the "professional market" while exhibiting diction and style suspiciously similar to that of a high school student; but if you're Apple and you've got the best industrial designers in the world, what do you work on? New notebooks and handheld devices, or desktop towers? It's a no-brainer.

 

[Blue Sun]

But seriously, how much extra work is it to include support for more up-to-date graphics cards?

 

[ixodes]

I'm a little disappointed in the lack of USB 3.

What is a bit puzzling is that Apple seems to be getting less consistent. To offer USB 3.0 on another model, yet fail to on this one, is further proof that they are not immune to their own brand of fragmentation. By not adding USB 3.0, which is so easily implemented, makes one wonder what kind of logic (if any) Apple is using to make decisions.

 

[apolloa]

Why the **** would selling a 12 core Mac Pro even enter the back recesses of your mind? What is your machine unable to do for you?

I have a an "early 2009" eight core Mac Pro and the thing still ****ing KILLS, three years in. Sure, it's got an OWC SSD and 24GB of RAM, but I have never thought that the machine was slow in any way.

Because he likes the latest machines or because having 16 cores will perform the work in less time and save money?

Why the hell have YOU got a MacBook Air AND an iPad 3? Same context of question..

 

[iPadPublisher]

I think the mild MP upgrade and the obvious NYTimes leak was Tim Cook's way of assuring pro users that a new high end machine is in the works.

It can't get much clearer than that.

How naive can you get? It can get a lot clearer: "a new Mac Pro is in the works" -- that would be more clear. Straight from the horse's mouth, not in code, or via mysterious press leaks, or any other ********. Apple saying that a new Mac Pro is on the way would in NO way damage their business. Competitors already have better machines -- and they can't run OSX, so knowing Apple has that in the pipeline is about like knowing a new iPad is in the works. We all know already. The only difference is, with the Mac Pro, we really DON'T know, because they haven't done anything with it for two years, and haven't done anything with it today. The "speed bump" today has already been available via third-party vendors for the Mac Pro. Now its available from Apple. Big deal. The technology is ALL still the same.

 

[MSM Hobbes]

ok, I'm late to this "party",,, get off work late, stop by store, drive 35 minutes home, unpack, spend 40 minutes watering ~25 trees, stealing water from my pond, which is rapidly decreasing in volume, slap some PB & J on some bread, get some juice, sit down, go to MacRumors to see what happened today, looking forward to seeing just how much more betterer the newest greatest fastest bestest iMac, needed to replace my ailing slow semi-crashing older iMac that this family of four tries to use,,, and then, scrolling through the MacRumors feeds,,,



...fudge... ...fudge... ...fudge...



C'MON COOK!!!

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Just for the record, the Radeon HD 5770 was actually never a professional graphics card, it was a sub-200 dollar effort from AMD.

The RRP of the 5770 was around $160. It was a decent budget card and nothing to be ashamed of, but even in 2009 when it was released, it was far from being professional grade in any possible sense of the word.

Precisely my point, the 5770 isn't a pro card and was never a pro card or a performance card, it's lowend gaming card if that.

I would have been happy to see an nVidia Geforce 640 as stock instead of the 5770, it's poor form adding a 3 year old graphic card to a $3K+ workstation. Really how costly would is be to add a lower end current generation card to the mix?

 

[apolloa]

As I have said NUMEROUS times on the forums here...Apple has basically abandoned the Mac line. Today's news yet again backs up my feeling:...........Personally I believe Apple should dump the Mac.

Yeah, says the guy proudly stating he has 2 LENOVO laptops and a DELL PC in how signature.... I bet you never use your Mac Mini right?

 

[BlueberryMac]

...but the iMac? There's no reason for it to wait that long. I give it a couple of months, tops.

Yeah, my thinking was that they are waiting until Mountain Lion drops before they release the new iMacs.

That would put the new iMacs
(which average an update every 273 days, but haven't been updated for 406 days!)
coming out in July at the earliest.

(although, with all Macs bought today on being given a free update to Mountain Lion anyway, maybe my thinking is more like "hoping"...)

 

[macbook pro i5]

it says the mac pro's were updated today?

 

[Adolfo]

They should rename it the Mac Classic. So disappointed.

 

[reden]

Later next year? What?

 

[kps]

They're not a company to release something unpolished, and especially not for the pro market.

I love your perspicacious satire of Final Cut Pro X.

 

[Snowshiro]

HP and Dell must think Christmas has come early.

 

[relimw]

"later next year...." WTF? FAIL

 

[PeterQVenkman]

Hey guys I'm still fairly new here.

Can I curse on this forum? (Serious question).

Sure you can. Around here curse words are Windows, Android, blu-ray (watch out!), and Mac Pro.

HDMI used to be one until today.

 

[wizard]

This is the most glaring issue, that card is pathetic.

I might be convinced that this is a good move if they are working on something really innovative. But as you point out no excuse for that video card.

No excuse for still shipping that video card in this "update.". None.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

Well, I had been looking at the six-core for a while. Price just dropped $700 on that unit, so this update suits me OK.

I don't care about thunderbolt in the MacPro. Not as much need for exterior storage. I'm a little disappointed in the lack of USB 3.

The question fo me is whether it is worth it to cough up the dough for a dual processor unit. Does anyone know where i could get some info on what programs actually quantifiably benefit from the dual processors?

What programs do you use? That will save time. I and a few others on these forums regularly use apps like Cinema 4d, which will eat twelve cores and ask for more in a heartbeat.

 

[bobobenobi]

Because he likes the latest machines or because having 16 cores will perform the work in less time and save money?

He said he was thinking of selling it, and my question is, "in exchange for what, and why."

Why the hell have YOU got a MacBook Air AND an iPad 3? Same context of question..

It's not the same question at all. You've used a laptop and an iPad before, right? If not, they're drastically different machines.

 

[Eric5h5]

it says the mac pro's were updated today?

Not really. "Slightly refreshed" would be a better way to put it.

--Eric

 

[bobobenobi]

New GPUs and CPUs may excite the people who claim to be in the "professional market" while exhibiting diction and style suspiciously similar to that of a high school student.

This is exactly what's happening here. A large number of so-called professionals.

 

[Stella]

"Our pro customers are really important to us...don't worry as we're working on something really great for later next year."

If this is the case then Apple's talk hasn't been translated into action.

 

[Roberson]

I will be too late. So lengthy to use it!

 

[Rocketman]

"Later next year" means 2H 2013. That is an eternity from now in computer years.